DRINKWINE: Man's best friend gets the royal treatment

Ok, we’re on again. The ban on training dogs on public lands is over, at least for this year. Between now and April 15th of next year, Seamus can resume his forays into the woods we’ll be haunting come September 15th for bonasa umbellus. Actually, I’d be lying if I said we haven’t been in the woods since April, it’s just that we haven’t been trekking the haunts where I expected to find grouse.

Since Seamus’ surgery, he’s been getting the royal treatment form everyone and that, of course, means bacon. I’ve been informed in no uncertain terms by “She Who Must Be Obeyed” that he’s getting fat and I’d better get him some exercise -emphasis being on me going along.

So now is the time to tie in the seasons.

A side benefit of trout fishing in pristine out of the way places is occasionally hearing grouse drumming. This year however, the number of drumming I’ve heard have been far less than in past years, at least in the same places I usually hear them. There are however, exceptions.

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If you haven’t had the benefit of hearing grouse, one of the best ways I know to choose where to look for grouse, at least in a cursory way, is by going over topographical maps. You can find them on line and also get them from a DNR field office. You need to know the general area you want a map for, but you can get an idea of the lay of the land and coupled with an inexpensive GPS, a world of two tracks and trails can open up to you.

Two things make for a successful hunt; one is the dog being in good shape and the other is you being both in good enough shape to follow your bud through the woods and being able to hit a bird once in a while. …there’s nothing more pathetic than having a dog turn and bark at his partner after missing every bird he puts up.

Beginning mid-August, I’ll be honing my shooting skills at several trap and skeet ranges. After that we’ll spend at least one day at a pheasant farm to get Seamus tuned-up on holding a point until the fat guy walking behind him catches up. It’s fun to hunt pheasants, but pheasants run like chickens at times and for training purposes, Hungarian Partridge are a better bet if you need to work on your dog holding point - they’re also cheaper to plant than pheasants. If you’re hunting with a spaniel or retriever, a bird running isn’t that big of a problem. But for a pointing dog, give him and yourself a break and mix in some Huns.

Of course there is still time to find a few coverts while quietly wadding trout streams in out of the way places. The trick is to remember where you were when you heard drumming. (Those of you my age know what I mean.)

Having said all that, there is a lot of fishing left to do before I trade my waders for brush pants. Hoppers are beginning to produce and tricos will soon be the morning favorites. One of my favorite recipes is a trico spinner tied with just black thread for the body and a small strip of butcher’s paper - the see through tissue type they use to pick up meat before wrapping it - for the wing. Ask for a couple of sheets at the meat counter. It goes a long way.

I know there are many hopper patterns out there, and they all work at one time or another. Two of my favorite patterns that produce well for me on the Jordan and Manistee in the Deward area are Dave’s Hopper and the pattern found in the back of the “Fisherman’s Guide to the Boardman and Jordan Rivers” put out by Challenge Chapter of Trout Unlimited. The recipe calls for a 2XL size 6 – 14 hook (I prefer a 10); yellow yarn for the body with a small loop extending past the bend. Brown hackle palmered over the body; a dark mottled turkey wing section lacquered and tied on tent style; deer hair for the over wing; pheasant tail barbs knotted and tied in on both sides; and spun deer hair for the collar and head.

For me, the hardest thing about tying a hopper is tying the knots in the pheasant tail barbs for the legs. There are tools on the market and believe me, I have them, but I find if I start with long barbules, I can knot them just as easy using a hemostat, then cut them to size.